An Online Friend Of Mine
by Duly Noted and Discredited
Summary: Online computer gaming was Gaara's forte, but when a fellow gamer starts getting a little too friendly, Gaara stops playing online. But his fellow gamer doesn't get the point. M for later chapters, Yaoi!


Hello one and all! I know, I'm sorry for taking down my chapters but it should be better now… right?

I'm following the procedures of my school, six periods of class and two more for lunch and for recess. Kay? Plus, you'll be getting a lot more information and there are a few changes that I've made, so if you're sitting there going, Huh? Know that there have been some major changes to the way this story is going, hope you enjoy! Sand Siblings relationship has changed quiet a bit.

So, I wrote this chapter out then lost it all because my mum closed my laptop… -glare-. Had to re-write it all!!!

I am armed with my radio (it's called Online Gaming Radio… lol) and mass amounts of junk food, so LET'S GET THIS SHOW ON THE ROAD!! Woot!

_Game Chat_

Normal-ness

"Speech"

'Inner Self'

(Gaming information for non-gamers and N00b gamers… no offence :] )

* * *

Gaara Sabaku was never going to be a normal teenage boy, he was never a normal child and he never had a snowball's chance in hell of being a normal adult. He never made friends with the other children and now, he was here, at a new school and trying to remain as inconspicuous as possible.

However, it seemed that the students at Konoha's largest and most pompous school had different ideas for him. It wasn't just the vibrant, deep red of his hair or the pupil-less green colour of his black-ringed eyes, Gaara seemed to emanate the strange, unknown and un-cool.

He had a reputation for violence, even though he had never hit another person in his life, except his siblings of course, and was known through the school as a stoic, cold, hard-ass bastard.

Half of that probably come from Naruto, whining to that bitch on his arm, Sakura and her passing it on to her best friend, Ino. Of course, then everything would just run madly out of control. Naruto had no right to rack on about him to that pink idiot, just because the Uchiha wasn't sitting with the stupid blonde anymore.

Sitting at his computer desk, Gaara grinned. Sasuke Uchiha, golden boy of year eleven, he came second only to Neji Hyuuga, smart, stunning and school captain, straight A student. Both of them paled in comparison to Itachi Uchiha, not only was he strikingly handsome, but he was a child prodigy, having mastered all the advance courses in any school he went to with ease.

Gaara had first met the two Uchiha brothers when Sasuke's driver had smashed into the back of Kankuro's car. Both Gaara and Sasuke knew that it was Kankuro's fault, seeing as how Sasuke's driver had not even started up the car yet, but The Uchiha's had forked out the money for the repairs. After a length conversation with his brother, accompanied by much swearing from Sasuke about Kankuro, Sasuke handed Kankuro the phone wordlessly.

Kankuro and Itachi had discussed things while Gaara and Sasuke began talking between themselves, complaining about Kankuro at length. A kind of friend-ship had formed between them and the two had been almost inseparable ever since.

Gaara relaxed in his computer chair, waiting for the machine to load with a small frown on his face. Unfortunately, the friend-ship that Sasuke and Gaara had formed, led to Naruto believing that Gaara was trying to steal his 'boyfriend'. Sasuke was completely unaware that Naruto considered Sasuke as a lover! Naruto was just crazy, probably from spending too much time with Sakura.

The computer screen loaded and opened itself up on a page called Battle Clan. Quietly, Gaara followed the on-screen instructions and found himself logging into the online game.

'_Welcome back, Bloodied Sands of Time.'_ He ignored the automatic female voice, glancing quickly at his characters, contemplating who to play.

Galadir, Elven Shape-shifter: Level 49. Skeletal, Undead Warlock: Level 37. Stormy, Human Mage: Level 22.

_Galadir has come online…_

'_Hey Galadir, long time no see!' _A private message popped up on Gaara's screen.

'_Hey, how are you?'_ Gaara responded, running over to a NPC (Non-Player Character) to hand it one massive chain quest.

'_Not to bad over 'ere mate. Hey listen, you know Cerebral?'_ Gaara paused for a moment while accepting the next quest. Cerebral managed to get to level fifty in less than five months. He was one hard core gamer but really stuck up, even over the internet and he rarely helped out other players.

'_Yeah, of course I do! Why do you ask?' _Anyone who was anyone knew Cerebral; he co-owned the biggest and highest guild in the whole game with I-Think-With-My-Other-Head. Gaara had been dying to get into the guild but they only took level 70 and over.

'_He's been asking about you, knew we were mates and told me to tell you to meet him at the Oracle Glade when you got on.'_ Gaara sighed, Oracle Glade was in the opposite way he needed to go for his quests but, maybe just maybe, Cerebral wanted him to join their guild.

He said maybe.

'_Righto, see you later, k?'_ Gaara ran to the Flight Master, paying for a flight to Oracle Glade.

'_Later!'_ Gaara reclined in his chair, comfortable to wait until he landed. "Gaara, you are not on that stupid computer again are you?" A female voice shouted through the door. Gaara jumped at his sister's voice, getting out of his chair.

As quietly as possible he turned the small light on and the monitor off, grabbing a book from a shelf and sitting on his bed. "What was that?" He shouted back, randomly opening the book. His sister opened the door, just as Gaara realized the book was up side down and he turned it over.

"I asked if you were on the computer. Obviously you're not. Baki said go to bed soon." Gaara said nothing, watching his sister slam the door loudly.

Temari was a nice girl (unless it came to Gaara) but very bossy, she was the oldest after all. She had blonde hair and an 'interesting' sense of style, nearly always seen with her hair in four pigtails. Her teal eyes held more blue in them than her youngest brother and always had some form of make-up on them, but then again, all the Sabaku children had some form of make-up on their faces. Temari was a pretty good student and, while she didn't enjoy every subject, she liked going to school. She was a busty girl, very popular and attractive with the boys at school and had always been the first person noticed in a room. Gaara couldn't help but make comparisons between her and their mother, who died when Gaara was born.

Gaara was short, thin and sickly pale from spending too much time on the computer. His eyes were a much green-er shade of teal and he also wore make-up around them, emphasizing the black rings around his eyes. The lack of sleep was his own fault; Gaara always got sucked into his game and often played well into the night. Besides, even if he did get to sleep, he had the medical condition where he stopped breathing as he slept. He found himself constantly waking up every time he fell into a deep (or light for that matter) sleep. He was also the youngest.

In the middle sat Kankuro. Strong and burly with the perfect body structure to save the fair maiden and sweep her off her feet. Well, that would be if he wasn't so promiscuous. Kankuro would sleep with anything that walked, breathed or showed the slightest bit of interest in him, no matter what lay between the legs. He had very short brown hair, which was constantly covered by a black hoodie with cat ears, and Asian looking brown eyes. His face was always decorated with strange patterns, done in purple-ish paint. Kankuro was the splitting image of their father, now dead after living his life blaming Gaara for the death of his most beloved wife.

An attitude both of his children had inherited from him. Temari barely spoke to Gaara and when she did, it was often harsh words, filled with judgment. Kankuro was much better, in fact, he kinda liked Gaara and the two managed to co-exist fairly well. However, their father had left them in the care of their Uncle Baki, their only living relative since Yashamaru had killed himself six years after his sister's death, he to, had blamed Gaara for her death.

And so, Gaara sought refuge in his game, no-one knew who he was, no-one judged him or called him names and people generally liked him, or at least his characters and he liked them. Gaara jumped slightly when he finally landed, noticing a figure sitting at the base of The Oracle Tree.

'_You must be Cerebral._' Gaara typed, almost hesitant and most definitely nervous.

'_Yes I am. Hello Gaara,'_ Gaara felt his jaw drop. He'd made certain that he never used his name on any of the sites, choosing instead to be called Tanuki-Dog or Shukaku (after his cat). So, how did Cerebral know his real name?

'_Who are you?'_ Gaara typed furiously, letting his desperation enter his writing.

'_Gaa-kun, I'm hurt! I go to your school, pick me out and I may do more than just… chat… with you on here.' _Gaara frowned for a moment, utter confusion on his face.

'_What do you mean, Sasuke is that you?'_ Gaara's typing slowed down, believing that his friend had hacked the system when he got bored or something.

'_No, it's not Sasuke. Let me ask you a question.'_ Gaara's frown returned, wondering what Cerebral wanted.

'_Go for it.'_ He watched, blinking away the growing soreness of his eyes.

'_Would you like to be paid by me? Through the game, I mean.'_

'_What do I have to do, and how much?'_ Gaara asked. Money was always in demands on this game, without it you would die from crappy armor and weapons.

'_That is up to how well you do your task, which leads me to a second question.'_

'_Yes?'_

'_Have you ever cybered before?'_ Gaara felt his jaw drop again. Cyber was strictly forbidden on the game and was punishable by having your entire account deleted, which – for gamers – was a huge deal.

'_You mean like… cyber sex? No I haven't, it's forbidden!'_

'_You've never broken the rules before? And anyway, I wouldn't be so careless as to do that on here, I have a private chat room set up just for this.'_

'_But, you don't know me and I could very well report you!'_

'_Would you really do that, Gaa-kun? Besides, I'm offering to pay you good money, you may even enjoy it.'_

'_I may as well be an internet prostitute!'_

'_Well, the way your brother is going...'_ Cerebral let the statement hang in the air and Gaara's typing faltered for a moment, who was this guy?

'_You know my family?'_

'_Yes, and I know that you three don't get along very well either. Your mother's dead, your father's dead and so is your Uncle Yashamaru, suicide right? It was on your sixth birthday. Uncle Baki looks after you now but he isn't very nice, he does things to you, hmm?'_

'_That's really very creepy, you know that right? Who are you?'_

'_Gaa-kun, I know you, your curiosity will get the better of you. Don't hold back, Gaa-kun, let yourself be free, ne? That's what you've wanted for so long.'_

_Galadir is now offline…_

Gaara pushed himself away from the computer desk, his breaths were erratic and his heart beating faster. Cerebral shouldn't have known those things about him; sure Kankuro was public knowledge but Baki? Gaara had never told a soul about what Baki did to him.

Gaara rubbed his eyes, opening them to see what time it was. Midnight, he'd been on the computer for half an hour without realizing and he had school tomorrow.

School – Cerebral did say he went to Gaara's school, could Cerebral be Naruto? No, Naruto didn't like computers and didn't have that much patience. Sasuke wouldn't ask him to do that either and his friend… Neji, well he didn't look the type to play MMORPG's in his spare time but Gaara couldn't always tell with that pale-eyed teenager.

Sakura and Ino wouldn't do anything that Sasuke didn't do either and besides, Gaara was pretty sure Cerebral was male.

Kiba didn't like bright lights or loud sounds and Shino wouldn't play Battle Clans because some quests involved killing bugs. He knew that Sakon played religiously and was also a friend of Gaara's but he could always have another account, and there was always his brother, Udon to consider. That didn't leave many people for Gaara to question, really only Sakon and Udon.

Gaara shuddered at the thought and groaned in frustration, he would NOT give into Cerebral's requests, he'd just forget the whole thing happened and go to bed, then find out it was all a dream. Gaara stood from his chair, rolling it back under his desk and flopped onto his low lying bed, ready to rest his blood-shot eyes.

Everything would be fine in the morning…

He hoped…

* * *

I love some of the Biography websites that people write for Naruto, only problem is that it really only has, Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura and, some times, Kashi (spelt like that ask well)

It's kind of sad that people make these websites without even knowing the main characters yet. Yes, I include Neji, TenTen, Rock Lee, Kiba, Hinata, Shino, Ino, Shika, Choji, Gaara, Temari and Kankuro, plus the mentors, as main minor characters. And, of course, Akatsuki, who could forget them?

Anyway, thanks for coming back and re-reading this chapter, I really appreciate it! Also, I have a new homepage if you feel like checking that out. I'll be posting some stuff on there soon; it will also have info as to when I'll be uploading stuff.

Readers from the old chapter would've noticed some things that are exactly the same, I got lazy and copy/pasted because it was pretty much what I was going to write anyway. Besides, my left wrist really hurts…

Feeling pretty damn good for writing all of this in one night! Hope you liked it, I think it sounds a little better now.


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